The vacant house on 25 Bell Street in Ypsilanti is the subject of a dangerous building hearing on October 2nd at 7 p.m. at Ypsilanti City Hall. The hearing is to determine if the building should be demolished.
Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include more information about the 2012 taxes owed on this property.

Ypsilanti officials are seeking the demolition of a vacant boarded house inhabited by raccoons and squirrels.

The house located at 25 Bell St. near South Huron Street has been an eyesore for nearly 10 years, according to officials and neighbors.

A dangerous building hearing has been set for the property at 7 p.m. Oct. 2, when city council will decide whether the house should be demolished.

Fire Chief Jon Ichesco inspected the 1,497-square-foot property and said the house was in such bad shape that there were certain parts of the house he couldn't walk through in fear of the floor collapsing. Ichesco observed the raccoons inhabiting the second level of the house and squirrels living in the ceiling and attic.

"There are collapsed holes in the roof," he said. "The stairways were failing and the structure was damaged by the elements. The garage was leaning in on itself."

The garage has since been removed but remnants of it lay on the property along with large cinderblocks.

"It should be torn down," said Mutrey Gooden, who lives across the street.

Gooden said since the house has been boarded up, illegal entry hasn't been an issue. Shards of broken glass and alcohol bottles are littered across the front porch and parts of the lawn but despite this, Gooden said he hasn't seen anyone inhabit the property.

Donald Gooden, his son, said the property is dangerous and a hazard for families in the area.

"Someone could get killed or something there," Donald said.

Ichesco said the house was once occupied by a family that bought the property in 1988 for $8,000. When the parents died, the house transferred into the ownership of the son, Ronald Clark.

Clark then tried to rent the two-bedroom home.

"Someone tried to make this house into two efficiency apartment units," Ichesco said.

Eventually, Clark struggled to pay property taxes and the house soon fell into disrepair. Ichesco said Clark's property tax amount saw a considerable increase over the years and he appeared to struggle to generate enough revenue to cover the taxes.

Ichesco said in 1999 the property taxes were $2,759 and in 2012, the taxes, including inspection and escrow fees, increased to $5,000. The assessed value of the home is $35,100.

Clark could not be reached for comment.

"When you do rental homes, you have to bring it up to code and that was the undoing of this home," Ichesco said. "It's not habitable. (Now) the ceilings are falling in and there's a water leak from upstairs to the basement."

Building Department Manager Frank Daniels said one of his department's building inspectors observed several structural issues with the house.

The city's inspector agreed with the fire department that the building was hazardous and an April 27 consent agreement was signed between the inspector and Clark that established the property should be demolished.

"The owner consented to the fact that it's dangerous," Daniels said.

Daniels said the city is alerted to dangerous properties by complaints submitted by neighbors or by city staff driving around neighborhoods.

"Between the planning, building and fire departments, we kind of ranked them from really dangerous and ready to fall and on down," Daniels said. "We decided to take a certain amount down per year."

Ichesco said he's been inspecting houses since 1998 and has seen houses deteriorate into blight like this before.

"It's just one of those types of properties that historically it went from being a maintained structure with people raising families, to families gone and being a rental," he said.

"People buy for as little as possible, invest as little as possible and get rid of (it)," he said. "lt's like an old reused car that you can't haul off, it's done and used up."

Comments

Ann English

Thu, Sep 27, 2012 : 11:48 p.m.

I found the house on Tuesday. What I saw matched photos #1 and #6. I could see how it wouldn't do to burn it down, even if no raccoons or squirrels lived there; other houses are too close to it. It was a surprise how close to I-94 it is.

jns131

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 11:12 p.m.

Rocky the squirrel is having fun with Rocky the raccoon. O man I hate to be the one that had to go into that house.

Joseph Stratton

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 10:19 p.m.

The place has been inhabited for over 10 years, yet 'there's a water leak from upstairs to the basement.'
Why is the water still turned-on?

An Arborigine

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 8:49 p.m.

A spokesmammal for the raccoons directed any questions to the Raccoon Civil Liberties Union, which will be filing suit on behalf of the displaced kritterkind.

jscd91

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 8:29 p.m.

In all seriousness, I hope the demolition happens prior to it getting really cold out so that the critters have enough time to find a new home before winter hits. They can't be blamed for any of this and are just taking up residence in an available shelter.

John of Saline

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 6:21 p.m.

Is that a reel-to-reel tape recorder in shot 4?
Seems an odd thing to abandon.

Bertha Venation

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 4:38 p.m.

Ellie Mae -- Git them critters outta here!

ahi

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 4:27 p.m.

The taxes have NOT increased to $5k. The tax bill is $5k, but that's because it includes $2600 in dangerous building inspection and escrow fees. Taxes have decreased since 1999. You can find this information here: https://is.bsasoftware.com/BSA.IS/default.aspx

Barb

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 3:31 p.m.

I wanna be on the Blight Beat. Where do I apply?

dading dont delete me bro

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 3:24 p.m.

anyone in the market for a 'fixer upper' ?!?

Jay Thomas

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 2:57 p.m.

That would be a &quot;yes&quot;.
The Ypsilanti assessors are either crazy or kleptomaniacs. Glad I don't live there because they are trying to get blood from rocks.

AlwaysLate

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 1:58 p.m.

Why is no one concerned about the raccoons?!
If the house is torn down, where will they go?
Oh, the raccoonanity!

arborani

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 2:13 p.m.

And think of the raccoon children!

Dog Guy

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 1:16 p.m.

This house exemplifies the conspiracy of wonderful little millages, each such a blessing for &quot;only&quot; so much a year. In a month we will be given opportunity to increase such property tax blessings in our own several communities to take from others and give to ourselves. It is a wonderful system.

dogman32

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 1:15 p.m.

$5K in taxes for that dump? Yowza!!! Must be sitting on a gold mine.

ahi

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 4:28 p.m.

Or the article is wrong.

Bubba43

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 12:40 p.m.

So, this is news worthy?

dconkey

Mon, Sep 24, 2012 : 10:38 a.m.

I hope the city gives the raccoons and squirrels ample notice to vacate the property before demolition.